Would Eversource's power line reduce property values?

SUDBURY – Bryce and Cathy Boothby live in a contemporary, clapboard-sided home on Bridle Path with a backyard bound by woods.

The couple bought the house in 1994, and raised three children there. They installed an outdoor pool, renovated the kitchen, rebuilt the driveway, and laid a new roof.

With their kids grown, the Boothbys want to sell. The only problem: Eversource hopes to install a high-voltage transmission line feet from their backyard.

“We’ve had four realtors say don’t even bother listing it, people won’t even come and look at it until this is resolved,” Bryce Boothby, 66, said. “And we don’t even know when the decision is going to be.”

Eversource’s power line would run nine miles between Sudbury and Hudson, mostly following the route of an inactive railroad corridor that bisects conservation lands and borders roughly 200 homes.

Many residents live close enough to see the rusted tracks from backyards. They fear the project would discount their homes if the Energy Facilities Siting Board approves it next year.

The siting board must soon decide whether it will consider property values in its review. Eversource argues the issue is outside the board’s charge, but the resident group Protect Sudbury disagrees.

The company and the nonprofit filed briefs on the question earlier this month with conflicting interpretations of state law and court precedents.

Eversouce prompted the debate when it objected to several residents citing concerns about home values as among the reasons the siting board should allow them to formally participate in its quasi-judicial process.

“Eversource wanted to try to pull it out of the mix and we say it should stay in the mix, just like all of the rest of the things being considered,” Protect Sudbury president Ray Phillips said.

Eversource has repeatedly denied its transmission line would reduce property values. “We’ve found no evidence to support the concern that transmission lines affect property values,” Durand wrote in an email April 11.

Local realtors, however, say the proposal is already impairing homeowners near the railroad corridor. Prospective homebuyers are avoiding properties that neighbor the route, three Sudbury realtors said in interviews Monday.

“They don’t know what’s going to happen. They don’t know if the power lines are going above or below the ground,” said Lynn Murray of Berkshire Hathaway’s Stephan Real Estate.

Laura Meier, owner of Black Horse Real Estate, said she recently declined work with hopeful home-sellers who neighbor the railroad corridor. Bryce Boothby said he received that message from four agencies, including Black Horse.

“We didn’t want to frustrate ourselves or the clients, and we advised them to rent the house and wait it out,” Meier said. “It’s just too much risk for these particular clients.”

One homeowner near the corridor had three potential buyers willing to make an offer earlier this year, but all withdrew once they learned about Eversource's proposal in more detail, Meier said.

Last year, Protect Sudbury researchers alleged that an overhead power line would reduce home values 10 percent to 30 percent for properties within 50 feet of the railroad corridor, and by 6 percent to 20 percent for those within 300 feet.

Eversouce now prefers to place the transmitters underground, a design with a footprint roughly half as large. The siting board could still approve the overhead option, or a scheme to bury the equipment under local streets.

The company decided to embrace the underground design after listening to residents and other stakeholders, Durand said. “There is no evidence we’re aware of that an underground transmission line has any impact whatsoever on property values,” he said.

The project could make it easier for the state to construct a rail trail along the same route. Some studies have found biking and walking paths can boost the value of homes nearby.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation endorsed construction of the line underground because Eversouce would pay to remove the tracks and reinforce bridges.

Protect Sudbury asked the siting board to consider property values, but Phillips said opposition to the project had never been solely about the concerns of the closest neighbors. Residents throughout Sudbury oppose the project, he said.

“It’s anything but an abutter issue,” Phillips said.

Jonathan Dame can be reached at 508-626-3919 or jdame@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DameReports